ST. LOUIS, Dec. 8, 2014 /3BL Media/ – Sigma-Aldrich Corporation (Nasdaq: SIAL) was named today to The Civic 50, an annual initiative that recognizes leading community-minded companies in the U.S. Conducted by Points of Light, the largest organization in the world dedicated to volunteer service, and supported by Bloomberg LP, The Civic 50 honors forward-thinking businesses that are strengthening their communities and demonstrating a correlation between civic engagement and overall bottom-line benefits.

“We strongly believe that in order for our company to be successful, the best interests of the communities in which we live and work must be one of our highest priorities,” said Rakesh Sachdev, Sigma-Aldrich President and CEO. “As a leading life sciences company, we have the unique opportunity to positively affect our communities through science, and we’re honored to be recognized by The Civic 50 for our global citizenship efforts in this area.”

Sigma-Aldrich’s internationally-recognized global citizenship initiatives are a key element of the Company’s overall mission of enabling science to improve the quality of life, helping to make the world a healthier, cleaner and safer place to be. Sigma-Aldrich accomplishes this by aligning and dedicating its employees’ time and talents, together with Company resources, in three main areas, including:

STEM(Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Education – Partnering with schools, community organizations, other corporations and employees to address the growing needs for STEM-proficient individuals.

Scientific Research – Funding and supporting research that focuses on disease, alternative energy or other research areas of interest to the Company’s mission.

Economic Development Through Science – Supporting organizations that spur growth in the broader science sector by incubating and supporting startup science-related companies.

“By focusing and utilizing our talent, data, research skills and other assets, we’ve been able to differentiate our community and civic engagements enabling us to make a greater impact,” said Jeffrey Whitford, Sigma-Aldrich Global Citizenship Manager. “It’s the best thing for our communities, as well as for our customers and business.”

The Civic 50 was developed under the guidance of an academic panel of nine experts from leading universities throughout the country and evaluates companies based on several criteria, including how extensively and strategically resources are applied to community engagement, how a community engagement program supports business interests and integrates into business functions.

Today’s recognition marks the third year in a row that Sigma-Aldrich has been recognized by The Civic 50. The company also placed first in The Civic 50 list’s Materials sector.

“Corporate civic engagement is on the rise and it’s being led by the businesses included on The Civic 50 list,” said Neil Bush, Chairman of Points of Light. “We congratulate this year’s Civic 50 and we hope that they continue to inspire greater investments in improving communities through corporate civic engagement.”

To learn more about The Civic 50 and the importance of civic engagement in America, visit www.Civic50.org.

About Sigma-Aldrich:Sigma-Aldrich, a leading Life Science and Technology company focused on enhancing human health and safety, manufactures and distributes 230,000 chemicals, biochemicals and other essential products and 40,000 equipment products to more than 1.4 million customers globally in research and applied labs as well as in industrial and commercial markets. With three distinct business units - Research, Applied and SAFC Commercial - Sigma-Aldrich is committed to enabling science to improve the quality of life. The Company operates in 37 countries, has approximately 9,000 employees worldwide and had sales of $2.7 billion in 2013. For more information about Sigma-Aldrich, please visit its website at www.sigma-aldrich.com.